Purple Heart Homes, a Sponsor of Army Week NOLA

This week’s Monday Spotlight is on a supporter of Army Week NOLA, Purple Heart Homes.

 

 

Purple Heart Homes is an organization that was founded in 2008 by John Gallina and Dale Beatty, both combat veterans of OIF 2. Both were severely wounded which gave them the drive to help many disabled veterans. They founded PHH because after 9/11 many organizations were founded with the intent of assisting only post 9/11 veterans. While these veterans are just as important as any others, older veterans need assistance as well. PHH was founded with the intention to helping all veterans in America.

 PHH operates two very different programs to assist veterans. The Veterans Aging in Place program is geared to help in the process of home remodeling of older disabled veterans. This allows veterans to stay in their own homes that have been remodeled to fit their needs. The Veteran Home Ownership program is geared towards helping disabled veterans who do not already own a home, become homeowners. This program provides credit counseling and financial training and matches veterans with potential homes that are remodeled to meet the specific needs of that veteran. The program’s goal is to provide veterans with a home of their own at a discounted rate of 50% of the appraised value.

 

              Everyone knows remodeling and buying a home can be very expensive. PHH has discovered ways that can help defray the cost so that our veterans are able to acquire a home that is tailored to their needs with a price that is affordable. Bank of America, Citibank, and Wells Fargo have helped to make this dream possible. PHH is gifted foreclosed homes that are able to be remodeled and help veterans become first-time homeowners. Community support, volunteers, and corporate sponsors also help to make this dream possible.

​Since 2008, 30 projects have been completed. PHH hopes to complete 50 in 2014. There are over 500 potential candidates in various stages of the process to become approved and over 100 veterans who are waiting on assistance. Interest in PHH has recently hit an all-time high due to Dale Beatty being selected as a CNN Hero, where he is currently in the Top 10. His Top 10 status earns PHH a $50,000 donation. If Beatty wins overall, PHH can potentially receive $250,000. The increased visibility of Dale and PHH have led to an increase in applications, which in turn, will expand their outreach into the veteran community where they’re needed the most.

 

 

 

Go check out Purple Heart Homes’ website at http://www.purplehearthomesusa.org/ .

Go and check out our social media websites:

Facebook: ARMY Week NOLA

Twitter: @ARMYWeekNOLA

Be a Hero-Hire a Hero, a sponsor of Army Week NOLA

This week's Monday Spotlight is on a sponsor for Army Week Association, Be a Hero-Hire a Hero.

                                           

         Be a Hero-Hire a Hero is an organization, founded by Jeff Klare and Noritza Perito, with  intentions of making the transition from military life to civilian life easier on our soldiers coming home from deployments. Although neither have served, the experiences of their family members in the service have helped make this dream possible. They originally started out hoping to help Wounded Warriors re-enter the workplace and start their civilian careers.  Since then, they’ve expanded their reach to assist all veterans, their spouses, and their families.  

           They’re able to assist veterans, spouses, and family members by incorporating three aspects into the job search;  promote education, recruiting, and retaining. They assist employers by educating them about all of factors that affect our veterans, as well as, educating the employers to interpret a soldier’s skillset. For our veterans to obtain and retain a job, their employers need to be educated about ways to assist them.  Jeff Klare and BAH-HAH take that responsibility seriously.  

 Be a Hero- Hire a Hero hosts many career expos to assist veterans, spouses, and family members in finding gainful employment. They incorporate a myriad of tools including career counseling, resume preparation, E-blasts of open job requisitions, a toll-free transition hotline, and follow along services for 1 year post placement.  They have produced career events from Boston to Los Angeles, from the Intrepid to Foxwoods Casino, to the National Constitution Center. There is also a virtual career fair that allows employers, veterans, and military spouses to communicate from anywhere in the world if transportation/timing is a problem.  They’ve developed a search tool where job seekers can type in location, keyword, and even their Military Occupation Specialty Code to make the job hunt easier and more manageable for our veterans. Since 2011, over 18,000 veterans and military spouses have been hired by leading companies in America.

            The transition from military life to civilian life is a long process and doesn't happen in one day. To date, thousands of our veterans and heroes have been provided job-searching strategies, employment, and  services through the help of Be a Hero-Hire a Hero.  Jeff Klare and Be a Hero-Hire a Hero, work very closely with Army Week Association. In September, BAH-HAH, Save A Suit, and AWA donated over 600 suits to veterans at a Citi Field Career Expo in NYC.  This Sunday, November 3rd, we are teaming up for the New York Jets vs New Orleans Saints Military Appreciation Game at Met Life Stadium.  On November 6, BAH-HAH will be producing a Career Expo Event in Philadelphia with UPenn and Drexel University at Legion Field.  Our COO, Jen Wilson, will be speaking at that event.  

Army Week is proud to support, and be supported by, Jeff Klare and an organization like Be a Hero-Hire a Hero that do so many wonderful things for our veterans, their spouses,  and their family members.

Go check out Be a Hero- Hire a Hero’s website at http://www.beahero-hireahero.com/ .

Our Vice President of Development, Christopher Molaro

This week’s Monday Spotlight is on our Vice President of Development, Christopher Molaro. 

Christopher Molaro knew in 8^th grade, witnessing the September 11 attacks on our country, that he was meant to serve. Chris explained, “ The sense of patriotism that engulfed us all really resonated with me, and I wanted to serve from that point forward.” Wanting to be involved in an organization bigger than himself, he chose to join the Army in 2006 and attended the United States Military Academy at West Point. He was commissioned out of West Point as a Second Lieutenant in 2010. 

Molaro chose to become involved in veterans affairs because he considers it his duty to serve our country. In 2011, he and fellow Soldier and West Point alum Garrison Haning, co-founded a 501(c)(3)non-profit organization, Things We Read. They were both serving as platoon leaders in Iraq, and they wanted to help soldiers cope with the stress of combat by promoting reading while also bringing awareness to the need for continuing education. Things We Read collects book recommendations from famous, influential people that readers find interesting. Many of these books are donated to service members and communities in need.

Along with Things We Read, Chris has been a part of other organizations that dealt with veteran’s affairs including Purple Heart Homes and now Army Week Association. He and Army Week Association CEO, Christopher Page, have been colleagues and fellow Soldiers for years. During that time, Molaro came to know Page as – “a genuine individual who truly cares about veterans and supporting any cause which supports them and their families.” Because of their friendship, he knew that he wanted to be a part of Army Week Association because he believes AWA is going to have a substantially positive effect on many veteran’s lives. He is now the Vice President of Development for AWA. That title has him being an advisor to the AWA team while helping promote AWA’s mission and planning events which highlight and celebrate our country’s veterans. 

1st LT Chris Molaro is currently stationed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He is enrolled in the Field Artillery Captain’s Career Course where he is preparing to be promoted to captain. No matter what course his life takes, he wants to continue to make a positive impact on Soldiers and our veterans and continue service to his nation in uniform or not.

A Member of Our Board of Directors: Christopher Croft

This week’s Monday Spotlight is on Christopher Croft, Colonel U.S. Army.

Christopher Croft is a member of the board of directors for the Army Week Association.

 

           Croft always dreamed of going to college, but being raised by a single, working mother, he knew he could never afford it.   Based on his academic and leadership potential, the Army awarded him a three year scholarship that allowed him to attend college. Croft joined the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps at the University of Florida in 1983. At graduation, he had no intention of staying in the Army for more than four years. He says, “The reason I stayed was the sense of purpose I gained from the Soldiers and leaders I served alongside.  I saw in them a camaraderie and selflessness that I wanted to be around.”  

 

In the span of 25 years, he has served in 12 different locations around the world and moved a total of 14 times. With the support of his wife, Connie, daughter (28), and son (23), the moves were made more bearable. His wife, Connie, gave up her professional career to take care of the children and keep their home while always helping him in every way she could.

 

Croft has served in Iraq twice, once with the 4^th Infantry Division (Mechanized) 2003-2004 and once with the 106^th Transportation Battalion, 101^st Airborne Division in 2007-2008. Being a husband and a father made deployments especially difficult. He missed both of his children’s senior year of high school. While on one deployment, his daughter moved away to college. On another, his son quarterbacked his team to a state football championship. While home, Croft tried to make the most of his time.  He says, “As I got older, I realized that balance in life is so important. I became more adept at determining what was critical to solve immediately versus what could wait until tomorrow.” When asked about the best part of a deployment, Croft said, “the opportunity to see the incredible professionalism and resiliency of Soldiers in the most difficult of situations”.

Croft participates in numerous organizations promoting veterans’ causes, including the National Defense Transportation Association, the Association of the United States Army, Military Association of America, Veteran of Foreign Wars, and the American Legion. 

In 2013, Croft was assigned to Columbia University as an Army War College Fellow. During his time at Columbia, Croft attended classes while being a voice for the Army in New York City. In New York, Croft started working with the Army Public Affairs team in Manhattan. Through them, Croft met Christopher Page, the founder and CEO of Army Week, and Jen Wilson, the COO of Army Week. Between the three of them, the concept of Army Week Association arose. Both Col Croft and his wife Connie are integral players and Board Members of Army Week Association.  Croft’s duties include helping develop the vision for AWA and guiding the organization to meet its goals.

Christopher Croft is currently serving at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas as the Director of the Center for Army Leadership. The Center for Army Leadership is the Army’s lead for leadership and leader development research, studies, analysis, assessment and evaluation; provides the Army leadership and leader development doctrine, products and services; develops and maintains the Army Leader Development Strategy and annexes; and manages the Army Leader Development Program.

 

Go and check out our social media websites:

Facebook: ARMY Week NOLA

Twitter: @ARMYWeekNOLA

Instagram: Armyweeknola

 



The COO of Army Week Association

This week’s Monday spotlight is on Jen Wilson,  the COO of Army Week Association. 

    Jen Wilson grew up in Monroe, Louisiana, then attended LSU where she graduated with a degree in Kinesiology in 2002. Before graduating, she had to decide where to fulfill the internship portion of her degree requirements. While sitting in her Miller Hall dorm room on LSU’s campus, she watched the tragic events of September 11, 2001 unfold.  She says “I knew then that New York City was where I was going.”  She applied for only NYC internships and was lucky enough to receive one at the NBC Health and Fitness Center. She moved to New York having never visited the city before and knowing no one, completed her internship,  and was offered a position where she’s been for 11 years. 

    Although Jen is a civilian, she’s always felt pride for the men and women that serve our country.  She said she feels this way because of her grandfather, SGM Ernie Lucien, who was an Army engineer in WWII.  He survived the onslaught of Omaha Beach on DDAY and drew up the battle plans for the Battle of the Bulge. He was awarded the Bronze Star for heroism and service in combat.  She reveals, “ When I think of the things that must have been going through his mind as the door to his boat opened and he literally had to look death and destruction square in the eyes and proceed with the mission, I don’t think there’s anything I can’t accomplish.  I find a lot of strength and inspiration knowing that fearlessness and commitment to cause runs through my veins.” 

After watching numerous friends she grew up with enlisting and serving over the last 12 years and knowing it was time to do her part,  she decided to join NBC’s Veterans Network in 2011 where she began getting involved with the veteran cause in New York City.  She says,  “Some of us are born to serve, and the rest of us are born to serve them.  We all have a part in this together.” Throughout 2011-2012, Wilson became more and more involved with activities, events, and outreach in NYC.  In early 2013, the CEO of Army Week Association Chris Page, asked her to be a part of AWA and help him build the next great service organization.  They’ve built it from the ground up together, and although its early, Jen says AWA has the potential to be a big player in the veteran space.  Shes convinced that between herself and Chris Page, that they’re unstoppable,  “ There is so much to be done and so much assistance needed for our veterans and their families.  Chris and I have big dreams for this company, and we won’t stop until we’ve reached them.”   Jen has always had a passion and drive to help our veterans.   Her main goal and dream for Army Week Association is to become the facilitator and purveyor of help, hope, and education for our veterans and their families.

Since coming aboard at Army Week Association, she’s taken part in many different events.  She counts her  most memorable “being in the Pentagon for the first time and having meetings in the area that was destroyed on 9/11, hosting and escorting Medal of Honor Awardee Ty Carter and his wife Shannon Carter in New York City, and hosting the US Army 238th Birthday Gala in June.”  Out of all them though, the one that sticks out the most was taking part in the ceremony with Purple Heart Homes in Manchester, Ct, handing over keys to the home they’d built for wounded SSG Sandra Lee.   Jen says, “that was tangible, immediate feedback of the “good” we had accomplished.” 

The next major endeavor Jen is spearheading is the AWA expansion of Army Week NOLA in 2014.  Being from Louisiana, this initiative is dear to her heart. Wilson wants to be able to bring everything she has done to help our veterans in New York City, to her home state of Louisiana.  “I sat by for a decade watching guys I grew up with go off to battle.  Some came back, some didn’t.  All I know is, it’s time they got some recognition and appreciation and assistance where needed.   Army Week NOLA is my way of honoring my home, my state, my heritage, my family, my friends, and everyone that has worn any uniform and fought for the State of Louisiana.”   The plans are still being laid for AWNOLA,  but every day she gets closer to her vision being fulfilled.   

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Facebook: ArmyWeekNOLA

Twitter: @ARMyWeekNOLA and use the hashtag #AWNOLA #SOT #SOV

Instagram: @Armyweeknola